The article in question, first published last Friday in The Denver Post, deals specifically with the political philosophy of school shooter Karl Pierson. Titled, “Arapahoe gunman held strong political beliefs, classmates said,” it features various statements from students who knew Pierson, concerning his worldview on economics and politics.

When The Post first ran the story, as written by the article’s authors Zahira Torres and Yesenia Robles, a key remark from one of Pierson’s classmates was reported.

This was the initial version:

Thomas Conrad, who had an economics class with the gunman, described him as a very opinionated Socialist.

A day later, whoever controls the levers at The Denver Post took out the word “socialist” from their edited, updated version of the piece:

Thomas Conrad, who had an economics class with the gunman, described him as very opinionated.

When challenged, on Twitter, about the edited version of the story, the senior news editor of The Denver Post, Lee Ann Colacioppo, Tweeted this pathetic reply:

“We decided not to have another student apply a label to the shooter–a label the student likely didn’t even understand ..”